Hacking the PSP Blog

23 places to get free PSP content (legally!)

Pocket Gamer has put together a list of different ways that PSP owners can legally acquire content for their prized handhelds. They cover official Sony sources, movies, music, TV, novels, e-books, and, of course, homebrew. They've been kind enough to provide links to all of the soruces. Check out the article for yourself here.

Off Topic: Survey Polls Japanese Online Gamers

Two new polls have been published revealing the online habits of console gamers in Japan.

The ITmedia research of next gen console owners found that thre quarters og gamers leave their console online 24/76, while 15% takw it online when required. 4% say they are not online presently and only 3% say they have no interest.

Enterbrain’s research findings were as follows:

CONSUMERS

Do you use the networking feature of your console?
-    Yes: 89.4%
-    No: 10.6%

On which platform are you using the network feature?
-    21.6%: DS
-    19.7%: Wii
-    18.1%: PSP
-    13.4%: PS2
-    13.4%: PS3
-    11.8%: Xbox 360
-    2%: other

Which service are you using the most?
-    22.2%: Online Gaming
-    16.4%: Demos
-    15%: Bonuses for games
-    15%: Game news
-    14.9%: No gaming related content
-    12.4%: Internet
-    4%: Mail

GAME MAKERS

Are you involved in networking services?
-    No: 60.7%
-    Yes: 39.3%

What kind of services are you involved into?
-    43.5%: Online Gaming
-    30.5%: Bonus data
-    13%: Game news
-    13%: Demos
 
On which platform are you involved?
-    39%.1%: Xbox 360
-    17.4%: DS
-    17.4%: PS2
-    13%: PSP
-    8.7%: PS3
-    4.4%: Wii

Christophe Kagotani
February 26, 2007

Source: Next-Gen

Chotto Shot Nightvision How-to Part I

Remember the post earlier this month about a Chotto Shot night vision modification from Acid Mods? Well they have now delivered a tutorial as promised. Be aware that this project does involve physically modifying the PSP camera so that it can see infrared light. If you're up for the challenge then you can check out the how-to using the link below.

Chotto Shot Night Vision Tutorial Part I

Via DCEmu

PSP gets drawn in MS Paint

Microsoft Paint isn't the most useful image manipulation program in the world. In fact, it's so primitive that it becomes a real challenge to do anything substantial on it. That hasn't stopped RANDISALBION from recreating an entire PSP in Paint. Seriously. Just watch ... but be careful! Your jaw might hit the floor.

Andrew Yoon
February 26, 2007

Check out the video here...

Source: PSP Fanboy

Fanjita Addresses Screen Brightness Issues

Some PSP owners have reported problems with the display brightness after using the Noobz 3.03 downgrader. Fanjita has posted on the Noobz site to explain why these problems occur and what can be done about them. Here's what he had to say:

After using the downgrader, some people have had problems with their screen brightness.  This article explains why, and what you can do about it.

The problem seems to occur only for recent TA-082 / TA-086 PSPs, that came originally with firmware 2.71 or later.

The problem is that Sony changed the display hardware in some of the recent PSPs, and the firmware needs to be aware of how to handle that.

This means that if you run a lower firmware than v2.71, then the display isn't given the right brightness signals.  Where normally you would see a bright screen, and it would go dark after a while of not pressing any keys, now it is normally dark, and goes bright if you don't press anything for a couple of minutes.

The best fix is obviously to install a firmware that can control the display correctly.  Fortunately the OE firmwares, e.g. 3.10 OE, will do this.  The only drawback is that, when running homebrew in the 1.5 kernel mode, you will get the old screen behaviour.  But you should be able to work around this by pressing the 'screen' button a few times.

It's also possible, for advanced users, to make a hybrid firmware that will use the later screenhandling code in the 1.50 kernel mode of OE.

For lots more technical information, there's an excellent thread in the lan.st forums, here.

Source: Noobz.eu

Pink PSP £99.99 @ Amazon UK

Amazon UK has dropped their price for the pink PSP to £99.99 (about US $196) and is also offering to bundle it with the pink deluxe accessory pack for a total of £116.98 (about US $230). Head over to Amazon UK and pick one up for yourself.

The rise of the handheld console

Announcing Sony's plans to enter the portable gaming market, he claimed the PlayStation Portable (PSP) would become "the Walkman for the 21st Century".

At that time conventional wisdom dictated that any attempt to break into the handheld market, dominated for so long by Nintendo, was doomed to failure.

To suggest that Sony's console would not only make an impact on the market, but also match the success of the 1980s cultural icon that was the Walkman seemed to argue a self-confidence bordering on arrogance.

After all, Sony shipped more than 50m Walkman units in the first ten years of production, reaching a total of 150m units produced by 1995.

The name Walkman has even joined that select group of brands like Hoover and Xerox whose name defines the product.

So four years down the line has the PSP lived up to "Papa" Kutaragi's prediction? Has it succeeded in breaking Nintendo's apparently unshakeable hold on the market?

Read the full article here...

Diarmuid Mitchell
February 27, 2007

Source: BBC News

Three hacker teams unlock the PSP

Computer hackers have scored a victory in their battle against Sony and the way the company controls its PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld games console.

Sony sells its PSP with built-in software, known as firmware, which controls how the console operates.

The firmware locks many of the PSP's capabilities, preventing enthusiasts from writing their own programs, known as homebrew, and running them on the machine.

It also disables its ability to play some films which are not bought on special Sony PSP disks.

But last month three hacker teams - Noobz, Team C+D, and a group led by PSP hacker Dark Alex - co-ordinating their efforts over the internet, found a flaw in the most recently released version of the firmware - version 3.03.

Unlocking PSPs

Using this flaw they devised a way to unlock all PSPs, regardless of their age or the firmware running on it.

This development has been a cause for celebration in the PSP homebrew community, but caused alarm at Sony because unlocked PSPs can be used to play pirated PSP games.

"The problem experienced here is not with homebrew applications, but with hackers who pirate commercial titles," a Sony spokesperson said.

"Piracy is illegal and we strongly oppose any acts which either aide or profit from it."

But the hackers say piracy is not what motivates their teams to unlock the PSP.

"My aim is to enable as many people as possible to run homebrew programs," said Fanjita, a member of the Noobz team.

He added: "Everyone has the right to do what they want with their own hardware. Piracy does upset me, and because what we are doing opens the way to piracy it's harder to justify it morally.

"But our stance on piracy is clear, and we hope to be role models. Sony have never been in touch with me, so I am confident that what we are doing is legal."

Read the full article here...

Paul Rubens
February 26, 2007

Source: BBC News

Get Off the Bus!

The battle to keep violent games kept out of public view has moved to Denver. Yesterday, the Parents Television Council and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is asking the Regional Transportation District to discontinue advertising of games rated Mature and Adults Only.

Last year, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories was advertised on a number of RTD trains. Though the RTD is not currently housing ads for any M-rated games, its policy allows for future advertising on its buses and trains.

"Our public transportation network serves more than half the residents of Colorado and is doing them a disservice with its tacit approval for the dangerous content in the Mature-rated video games that are advertised throughout the system," said PTC Denver Chapter Director George Robison in a recent RTD board meeting. "I'm here today to remind Chairman Chris Martinez and the board that they have a responsibility to act in the best interest of those who voted you into these important positions. You can take a step towards being a better steward of the public good today by no longer accepting advertising from violent video games that can have long-term harmful effects on the youth in our community,"

"It is unconscionable that RTD would accept advertisements for a game like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories," said CCFC member Peter Simonson. "In Vice City Stories, players are rewarded for killing innocent bystanders, law enforcement officers and rival gang members, as they attempt to set up illicit businesses, such as drug dealing and prostitution rings, and commit armed robbery. As a father and a Denver-area resident, I want to know that my children can ride public trains and buses without being subjected to ads that promote violence and lawlessness."

In November 2006, the CCFC convinced the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to refuse future advertising for M-rated titles. With the ESA recently teaming up with Senators Joe Lieberman and Hillary Clinton, this issue could soon broaden to a larger public policy. The government imposes limitations on public advertisements for alcohol and sexually-explicit content. Videogames could follow.

Supporters of the videogame industry's right to advertise M-rated games in public spaces have cited the acceptance of R-rated movie trailers and posters.

The RTD has not yet made a decision on this issue. It is unknown when a decision will be made.

Hilary Goldstein
February 22, 2007

Source: IGN

Devhook v0.52.0100 Released!

After almost two months since the release of the last version of DevHook, Booster version for us. While there aren't any earth shattering new features, the key difference in this version is firmware 3.11 support. The only actual difference in the installation files is an added "311" folder inside the "dh" folder.

This update will not work without a previous version of DevHook already installed. Assuming that you already have an earlier version on your Memory Stick, all you'll need to do with this is extract the contents of MS_ROOT/dh into your already existing "dh" folder. After that place a dump of firmware 3.11 into the appropriate folder inside the "dh" folder.

Download DevHook v0.52.0100

Via PSPUpdates

How-to guide: Making 32-bit custom XMB icons

While there are several custom-made XMB icons out there to go with the RCO editors in circulation, a lot of us just prefer our very own personalized sets. Now, in case you're among those folks but find yourselves short in the skills department, homebrew developer RaiderX is coming in with help.

He has just set up a 32-bit icon tutorial at the boards, which should provide basic steps for beginners on how to make their own custom XMB icons via their PC to the PSP. But before you visit the tutorial, make sure to have these ready:

• Photoshop (For editing)
• Image icon (What you're planning to use for your XMB)
• Hex editing skills (Or, if you prefer an easier way...)
• RCO editor (Zinga's homebrew is recommended)

Who says the veteran programmers don't look out for the new guys? For beginners with an inkling for some XMB icon pimpin' to go with their mondo custom waves, on to the (QJ) discussion boards!

Read 32-bit custom XMB Icon Tutorial

Source: PSPUpdates

SanDisk 4GB MS PRO Duo $59.99 @ Fry's

Right now Fry's has the 4GB SanDisk Memory Stick PRO Duo on sale for $79.99 with a $20 rebate, bringing the final price to $59.99. Head over to Frys.com to check out this deal for yourself.

Via PSPUpdates

Slick, All Black XMB

undertaxx, building on the original work of Sérgio Catumba and Innercy, has given us a very cool, slick looking, black XMB theme. Unfortunately this theme will not work with Dark Alex's 3.10 OE custom firmware. Here's what undertax says is included in the package:

• 32 bits High-Res Black Icons
• 32 bits High-Res Battery Icon
• 32 bits High-Res Volume bar
• 32 Bits month background + Bogus Waves
• 32 Bits High Res Load Icon (game, savedata, photo & corrupt)
• 32 bits High Res Load Circle (Right Corner thing)
• Xmb line, Shadow, Selectbar  customized to Black/Cromé
• All other thats included and i forgot

Download "Ultimate" Black XMB





Via PSPUpdates

Off Topic: States wising up? Video game bills drop like flies

After a streak of futility rivaling that of the Chicago Cubs, state politicos across the country appear to be finally getting the message about the constitutionality of legislation seeking to restrict the sale of violent video games. Already this year, three attempts to pass such legislation have either failed outright or been put on hold, as lawmakers appear to be increasingly cognizant of the constitutional issues.

A tale of three states

Mississippi
Mississippi State Senator Gray Tollison (D) introduced legislation in January calling for fines to be assessed to retailers selling M- and AO-rated games to minors, $100 for a first offense and $500 for subsequent offenses. It was a rerun of a bill introduced during 2006 and like its predecessor, it died in committee.

Utah
In Utah, State Representative Scott Wyatt (R) teamed up with video game violence pundit Jack Thompson to craft HB50. Modeled along the lines of an unconstitutional Louisiana law crafted with Thompson's help, Rep. Wyatt's bill would have modified the Utah Criminal Code to lump "inappropriate violence" in with sexual content in a list of materials harmful to minors, thereby prohibiting the sale of violent games to minors. Just as the Louisiana law did, HB50 drew on the Miller Test for obscenity to describe depictions of violence inappropriate to minors.[...]

Indiana
Most recently, an Indiana bill cosponsored by State Senators Vi Simpson (D) and David Ford (R) was introduced that would result in $1,000 fines for retailers selling violent or sexually-explicit video games to minors. After some choice violent scenes from a couple of video games were shown to the Senate Economic Development and Technology Committee, it voted by a 5-2 margin on Monday to send the bill to the full Senate for consideration.[...]

Read the full article here...

Eric Bangeman
February 23, 2007

Source: Ars Technica

European PS3 will play fewer old games?

A little bit off-topic, but I want to point out that Ken Kutaragi said at the PS2's (yes - PS2) launch that all future Playstations will be fully backwards compatible with old Playstations. I guess that PS3 really *did* cost too much - oh yeah, and there aren't any good games for the $600 system yet. Note that I said "games" - since there is a good "game" - Resistance Fall of Man. :-P -Auri

Here's the story from CNET:
Original link: http://news.com.com/European+PS3+will+play+fewer+old+games/2100-1043_3-6161623.html?tag=nefd.top

European PS3 will play fewer old games The European version of PlayStation 3 will play fewer PlayStation 2 video games compared with models launched earlier in Japan and America, Sony said Friday. "The backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as the U.S. and Japan models," a Sony representative said. PlayStation 3 was launched in Japan and North America in November. The model that will be introduced in Europe on March 23 will be designed differently. Software will take over some of the functionality that was originally taken care of by dedicated chips, which means far fewer PlayStation 2 games can be played on a European PS3 compared with the Japanese and American PS3 models that play 98 percent of old games. "Sony is managing expectations by saying now that the new console will play fewer of the old games. And that's a good thing," said analyst Alex Kwiatowski at British market research group Vertical Market Technologies. Kwiatowski said gamers with a PS2 will need to hold onto their device to play their current collection. "I'm as disappointed as the next game player about the reduced backward compatibility, but even the most nostalgic, misty-eyed gamers will have their steely hearts impressed by the new features that PS3 games provide," Kwiatowski said. The PS3's graphics and sound capabilities are much improved over the PS2. "Rather than concentrate on PS2 backwards compatibility, in the future, company resources will be increasingly focused on developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3," Sony Computer Entertainment said in a statement. About 1 million units will be available at the European launch next month, as many as were made available in the United States during the first six weeks after the launch last year.

StrmnNrmn looking for suggestions for Daedalus R10

Right on the heels of his Daedalus R9 release, StrmnNrmn is looking to you, the PSP homebrew community, for suggestions on what to include in the next version of his N64 emulator. Here's what he said in his blog:

The areas which clearly need lots of work are speed and compatibility. Unfortunately it's a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation - if the emulator runs slowly, it doesn't matter if certains roms don't run, because they'd still be unplayable. On the other hand, there's no point in having an ultra-fast emulator if it doesn't run the games people want to play. As I see it, I have to keep working on both of these things - in the long term, it doesn't make sense to concentrate on one and not the other.

I think the best approach is to alternate on work between the two areas. R9 saw significant speed improvements, but almost no progress with compatibility, so I'm currently leaning towards trying to get a few of the more popular titles running. But you're the ones who are going to be using the emulator, so I want to hear your views on what I should work on next...
...
Have a good play with R9 to see what's changed - maybe some things are working better than you expected. Maybe some things are no longer working? Here are a few suggestions:

• Speed. Make it faster generally? Is there a specific game that runs slowly which you'd like to see an improvement with?
• Compatibility. Should I work on FlashRAM support? Is there a specific game that doesn't boot, or crashes the emulator? Does your favourite game boot, but then crash when you try to start playing?
• Audio. The audio support is quite new. Are there certain games where it doesn't work? Should I try to improve the audio so it's less choppy?
• Graphics. Maybe your favourite game runs, but there are significant graphical glitches?
• Save Games. Save game support is currently 'in' for EEPROM and MemPak based saves, but very flaky. Should I work on improving this so you don't lose your hard-earned progress?
• Savestate. Would it be better for me to implement savestate support, so you can save an resume a game at any point?

Source: Retro Console Dev

Daedalus R9 Released!

Earlier than originally expected, StrmnNrmn has released Daedalus R9. A couple weeks ago he gave a rundown of features that he wanted to include in this release and it appears as though he has accomplished his goals. StrmnNrmn gave a brief summary of things to expect from this release and also provided a note about the audio support. Here's what he posted on his blog:

I've talked a bit about what's in this release, so I'll not repeat everything here. Here's a summary though:

• Faster
• New UI
• Audio
• Various graphical fixes

Please note - as audio support is very much 'beta' at the moment, it's disabled by default. You can enable the setting either in the front-end, or from the pause menu.

Please also note: To keep the distribution size down, I've not included any 'preview' pictures for the rom selector alongside the emulator. You can download and extract the 'Extras' file above for a few sample previews. It should be easy enough for people to create their own preview pictures - see the readme.txt for more details.

You can download Daedalus R9 and test drive it yourself using the links below.  I've also provided the links to the extras mentioned in the above note. ENJOY!

Daedalus PSP R9 for v1.00 Firmware
Daedalus PSP R9 for v1.50+ Firmware
Daedalus PSP R9 Extras & Source

Source: Retro Console Dev

Circuit City Testing Used Game Sales

According to an investor note from Lazard Capital Markets, Circuit City is testing the viability of used game sales in select stores and on its website.

Currently, circuitcity.com’s pre-owned offerings are quite limited. Used PlayStation 2 software includes just 15 titles, with games such as the Guitar Hero II bundle ($74.99) and Lego Star Wars II ($17.99). Xbox 360 currently has 12 used offerings, PSP has seven and Xbox has six.

Lazard analyst Colin Sebastian said that Circuit City’s interest in the used market is of “limited” threat to used games leader GameStop.

Sebastian noted that it’s not the first time a big-box retailer has tried to get into used games, as Best Buy tested the same waters last year with what Sebastian called “limited success.”

He also points out that while the used games market is a highly profitable business, there are a significant amount of hurdles to overcome managing used games. Retailers have to have in place a dedicated inventory tracking system, an adequate way to restock high-demand products and a sales team that knows how to evaluate used titles.

Sebastian said that used videgame products generate over $1 billion in revenues in North America annually, with almost 50 percent gross margins. He added that about 25 percent of specialty game retailers’ revenue comes from used product sales.

Kris Graft
February 22, 2007

Source: Next-Gen

Gold PSP Now Available in Japan

The champagne gold PSP is now available in Japan and for purchase on Play-Asia and SuccessHK for just under $200. If you're looking to import one for yourself then try using one of the links I've provided.

Lua Coding 101

Ever wanted to know how to code in lua? Homebrew developer Glynnder has just announced that in line with his recent coding break, he has set up a tutorial for lua coding over at the boards. Now, before you get started on the (free) session, be reminded that you will need the following tools:

• The latest version of Lua Devkit
• Lua Player (preferably versions v0.16, v0.17DK2, v0.20, or v0.20MOD3
• Notepad++ (in case Lua Devkit doesn't work)

Lua coding provides a relatively simple interface to work with, hence making it a favorite for newcomers just getting used to coding for a PSP. As Glynnder explains comparisons of "C" and Lua codes:

• "#include int main() { printf("hello world"); return 0;} That is 'hello world' in C"
• "print("hello world")  That is 'hello world' in lua"

There's also the long list of heavy-hitting lua games that are out as of late, like Quest of Link by Zion. For now, anybody who wishes to learn the ropes of PSP coding in Lua can access Glynnder's tutorial via the link. Enjoy!

Read: Lua Tutorial

Source: PSPUpdates

Sony 'Very Pleased' with January Sales

Following the latest video game sales data from the NPD, Sony Computer Entertainment America sent along the following facts and comments about the performance of its PlayStation products in the U.S. during January:

January 2007 was a record month for the PlayStation business with $550M in revenue for North America, this includes hardware and software for PS3, PS2 and PSP, as well as first and third party titles and peripherals. Although we still saw supply constraints at retail for PS3, we did sell a strong 243,554 according to NPD data. Tie ratios for PS3 have improved by 80% since launch and should continue to climb with the release of the much-anticipated MotorStorm from SCEA and Virtua Fighter 5 from Sega. PSP had a very good January, with hardware sales up 20% year over year, selling 210,719. PSP is closing the gap on the leading competitor, off just over 10% in total sales for the month. PSP software sales should see a boost as well this month, with the release of the critically-acclaimed Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters. PS2 hardware sales stood at 299,352 with an impressive increase in software sales year over year of 20%. One of the biggest games for the PS2 will be released this March in the blockbuster God of War 2. On the marketing front, with supply levels stabilizing, February will see the first appearance of PS3 in weekly retailer advertisements. BestBuy featured its first ad for the system on February 18. Target is slated to feature PS3 in its February 25th ad.

"We are pleased with the numbers from January as they demonstrate overall sales improvements for our legacy systems year over year and continued momentum for PS3. With supply levels stabilizing, you can expect to see increased marketing for PS3 and PS2 in weekly retail circulars, which should garner strong numbers, boosted by big software launches, such as MotorStorm and Virtua Fighter 5. PSP sales in January were exceptionally strong with the system quickly closing the gap on the leading competitor. All of this led the PlayStation brand to the biggest January sales in the history of the company in North America."

James Brightman
February 21, 2007

Source: GameDaily

Off Topic: Nielsen Puts Nintendo Ahead In Web Traffic Report

New data from Nielsen/NetRatings suggests that Nintendo’s website saw the biggest rise in visitors of any computer hardware manufacturer in January – with more overall traffic than Sony Computer Entertainment's site and Microsoft's Xbox website.

According to the report, Nintendo had 2.08 million unique visitors in January, up by 82 percent from 1.15 million at the same time the previous year. The figure compares to Sony Computer Entertainment’s total of 1.55 million unique visitors, for which no data from the previous year is available. The total for Microsoft’s Xbox website was just behind that of Sony with 1.5 million unique visitors.

The highest ranked computer hardware manufacturer was Apple with 43.51 million visitors, up 24 percent on previous figures. Overall Nintendo was seventh in its group placing, behind Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sun Microsystems, Gateway and IBM – but ahead of Toshiba and Epson.

Other Nielsen/NetRatings data revealed by marketing website Internet Retailer shows that the average time per visit for the Nintendo website was 19 minutes and 29 seconds, according to the survey.

This figure compares to 12 minutes and 48 seconds for Sony’s website, 16 minutes and 6 seconds for the Xbox website, but a massive 79 minutes and 25 seconds for group leader Apple, which likely benefited from movie trailers and other services available on its site.

David Jenkins
February 19, 2007

Source: Gamasutra

Gaming Skills Directly Linked to Surgical Skills

According to Reuters, a new study involving 33 surgeons at a New York hospital shows 'a strong correlation between video game skills and a surgeon's capabilities'. A statement by the senior author of the study even suggests the use of video games as a training tool for surgeons. Another of the study's authors cautions parents to curb excessive gaming, however: 'spending that much time playing video games is not going to help their child's chances of getting into medical school'.

Orinthe (Slashdot User)
February 20, 2007

Source: Slashdot

Off Topic: Computer games 'burn up calories'

Playing new style computer games can help people burn up a significant amount of calories, research has found.

Games consoles such as Nintendo Wii require players to use body movements to control the action.

A study by Liverpool John Moores University found regular use could help shift 27lb (12.25kg) a year.

The study was carried out to establish whether computer games can contribute to the daily activity recommendations for children.

The researchers compared activity levels during gaming using the Wii with those achieved using traditional seated joypad-controlled consoles.

They found more active forms of gaming increased energy expenditure to a level which could help lose weight.

Read the full article here...

BBC News Staff
February 19, 2007

Source: BBC News

GameStop offers $100 toward a new DS Lite for PSP trades

"Trade the Past... Play the Future!" That's what GameStop is saying with a trade-up deal that offers $100 for your PSP to apply towards a new Nintendo DS. Seems like a pretty cold move by GameStop since the PSP still has new game titles hitting the market, but who came blame them considering the DS's sales figures. This image comes courtesy of a NeoGAF member.

(Indiana) Bill aims to enforce age limits on games

Measure calls for fines of up to $1,000 for sale or rental of adult-themed video games to minors

Selling or renting video games featuring beatings, strippers and other adult content to minors could net a retailer more than the wrath of a disapproving parent.

It also could mean a $1,000 fine under a bill that passed the Senate Economic Development and Technology Committee 5-2 on Monday.
The vote came after some clips of the games were shown to the committee -- complete with often obscene and racist language -- on the giant flat-panel monitor at the front of the Senate chamber, which normally is used to display lawmaker votes.

Sen. David C. Ford, the Hartford City Republican who authored Senate Bill 238 along with Sen. Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville, said it was important for the committee to see the kinds of video games that the bill is trying to keep out of the hands of children.

Lobbyists for retail and video gaming industries opposed the proposal, saying similar attempts in other states have been struck down as unconstitutional. They include a November decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago striking down an Illinois law as overly broad.

In 2001, Indianapolis lost its bid to be the first city in the nation to ban minors from playing violent video games in public arcades without parental consent, when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

Read the full article here...

Mary Beth Schneider
February 20, 2007

Source:  IndyStar.com

Custom firmware settings to run Ratchet and Clank: size matters

Apparently there was a bit of uproar about an article on PSP Fanboy that reported Ratchet and Clank: size matters having major problems running on 3.10 OE (revision was not indicated). The PSP Fanboy reader that brought it to their attention claimed that his PSP would not start Ratchet and Clank: size matters unless he set the CPU speed to 333mhz and that the game would hang when attempting to try network play.

Well, gunntims0103 has decided to enlighten us as to which settings need to be selected in the recovery console in order for the game to play. Here's what he says are the correct settings:

Configuration

• Game folder homebrew (currently: 3.XX Kernal)
• Use NO-UMD (currently:disabled)
• Fake region (currently:America)
• Free UMD region(currently Enabled)

Advanced > Advanced configuration

• Plain modules in UMD/ISO (currently: Enabled)

CPU Speed

• Speed in UMD/ISO (currently:333)
  
• (apparently some user's use 266mhz, try that. I'm using 333mhz and its running perfectly.)
  

Plugins

• All Disabled!

Side Note - These are the settings to run the UMD of ratchet and Clank. DCEmu is not interested in the settings to run the ISO or any other copywritten illegal ISO.

Infrastructure in Ratchet and Clank: size matters still does not work on Custom firmware. It is rumored however to be working on Devhook.

Source: DCEmu

Gold PSP Coming This Week

Starting February 22 the champagne gold colored PSP will be available to the Japanese market. For those of you thinking about importing one of these units, Play-Asia will have them for sale for USD 199.90. The package contains the same items as a black PSP core pack: PSP Unit (PSP-1000CG), battery pack, and AC adapter. As I mentioned, you can get one of your own from Play-Asia, using this link.

Via DCEmu

It's here: NeoFlash's Spring Coding Contest 2007!

Homebrewers, it's time to get those programming books out, those photoshopping skills at the ready, and those tutorials from the devs at hand, because Dr. Neo's released the first info for this year's Spring Coding Competition.

Here's the information he gave for people, with a little sprucing up to make it easier to understand. There'll be a ton of winners, actually, with only a handful of people winning the grand prize: a Wii unit, a PSP, a DS Lite, or US$ 200. There are four divisions, two each for the DS and PSP: a game division, and an application division.

The rules are simple, according to Dr. Neo:

1. You can enter the GAME contest and APP contest both.
2. You must put the splash screen of "NEO spring coding contest 2007" to your production.
   

For the NDS App, the main concept is for MK5 GIGA system / MK motion cart and NEO2/3 applications,it's mean you will have more chance to win with an Apps using the full hardware function.

Second and third place finishers can choose any NEO product as their prize, while fourth to tenth in each division gets a "MK5-8G one set OR NEO2 one set OR Neo-PSP 8in1 Joypad one set OR SNK Converter one set" of their choice.

We advise you to check out the source for the latest updates on the info, but just remember that the contest will end on March 20, 2007, with prizes given out on April 20. Good luck!

Source: NeoFlash via PSPUpdates

DAX mixes it up: 3.03/3.10 OE mix for Undiluted Platinum

Wondering what's the latest with Dark_AleX? Well, according to him, he will be out with his chipped PSP for a month so he decided to come up with something that will be appreciated by every UP user: 3.03/3.10 OE Mix for UP.

In simple terms, this is just an OE update for UP users to have both the vsh for 3.03 and the kernel of 3.10 to launch PSP and PSX games.  DAX also mentioned that pressing L at boot and at recovery from sleep is kind of annoying so he fixed that as well.

A very simple yet valuable application. DAX has done it again. Here is the program's installation guide as well as some of its features:

Instructions:

• On the PSP original NAND, install 3.10 OE-A (or A', doesn't matter because the patches of A' will be applied)
• On the UP nand, install 3.03 OE-C
• Copy 303_10 mix to GAME150, and run it from the UP nand
• Done

Benefits:

• 3.03 vsh, which you can customize
• When you execute a psp or psx game, or a homebrew, OE will switch the nand to the psp one (containing 3.10 OE) automatically, so you will be able to play psx and psp games in the higher firmware, and since it will run on the psp nand, you won't have problems with psx games or with 333 MHz
• When you recover from sleep mode, OE will also be back to the nand you were, so you don't need to press L (in fact, you must not press it )
• You can access both flashes via usb in the recovery

Download 3.03/3.10 OE Mix for Undiluted Platinum

Source: PSPUpdates

Daedalus R9 Coming Next Weekend (Hopefully)

StrmnNrmn continues to tease us even more with yet another (brief) Daedalus R9 status update. His todo list is getting pretty small (at least what he's revealing) and at the end of his post StrmnNrmn says "as you can see, it's quite a short list now, so I'm still on track for releasing R9 by next weekend :)". As for what he's got left on that list, I've provided that information from his blog post below. Hopefully StrmnNrmn can stay on target an we'll see Daedalus R9 this weekend!

StrmnNrmn's remaining TODO items:

• I've been working over the weekend at fixing a number of outstanding graphical glitches, putting in place a system to automatically translate n64 blend modes to the psp. This should hopefully nearly eradicate nearly all of the purple and black textures that have shown up all over the place in previous releases. This is quite an interesting feature from a technical point of view, so I'll talk about this in a bit more depth once R9 is out.
• I have a few glitches in the new UI to fix (e.g. audio can't be disabled once the rom has started, controller can't be remapped once the rom has started).
• I need to hook up a few things to the new UI (e.g. 'reset to main menu', 'take screenshot' etc)

Source:  Retro Console Dev

Another option: Custom Firmware 1.53

In a time when Dark_AleX and Booster creations are, arguably, the cream of the crop, it is always nice to have other options for all of us in the homebrew community. Remember the year-old Custom Firmware 1.50: Media Edition? Well, eiffel56 informed us that he has released Custom Firmware 1.53. So what does this do?

This one is made for FW1.5 loyalists. Basically, it's a custom firmware which allows you to do more things on your FW 1.50, like starting nokxploited EBOOTS and so on. Here's what's new for this release:

• Recovery Menu
• Boot Menu
• Integrated uxMB
• You can start 1.00 style EBOOTS
• You can hide corrupt data icons
• You can start ISO/DAX files
• You can load your own plugins(PRX)
• Autoboot EBOOTs at startup
• Never turn off the backlight in XMB

The dev has provided us with an in-depth readme file that comes with the download. So if this creation tickles your fancy, we suggest that you understand and read the file. Anyhow, here's the download link for all of you guys.

WARNING: Firmware modifications can potentially damage your PSP beyond repair. Use this at your own risk.

Download Custom Firmware 1.53

Source: PSPUpdates

Off Topic: ESRB rates unannounced retro games

Last September, a slate of previously unannounced Wii Virtual Console titles from Sega were spotted with fresh new ratings on the Entertainment Software Rating Board's Web site. Two months later, another round of apparent Virtual Console games received new ratings, these ones pulled primarily from the Nintendo Entertainment System's collection of classics.

So far, only about half of those games have found their way to release, but the ESRB site continues to hint at future releases in the form of ratings for unannounced games. The ESRB has recently rated Wii editions of older games Galaga, Mighty Bomb Jack, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire, none of which have been confirmed for a US release yet. As yet unreleased TurboGrafx-16 Virtual Console offerings New Adventure Island and Chew Man-Fu are also in the ESRB database, and Hudson has confirmed both games are scheduled for a US release this month.

In addition, the site has a listing for Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts on the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, introducing the possibility that Capcom's Super Nintendo side-scroller could be the first downloadable game to land on all three platforms. A Capcom representative told GameSpot that the Wii edition has been announced for release on the Japanese Virtual Console, but there has been no announcement about PS3 or Xbox 360 versions of the game.

The ESRB database also includes ratings for a few retro collections. EA Replay 2 on the PlayStation Portable--which hasn't been confirmed by the publisher but was spotted at online retailers earlier this year--received a T for Teen, with content descriptors for blood and violence. Meanwhile, the site also lists domestic ratings for Empire Interactive's Euro offerings Taito Legends 2 for PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, as well as Taito Legends Power-Up for the PSP.

Finally, the site lists a rating for the Lumines Live Artist Pack: Madonna "Sorry" (originally seen in action at last year's E3). While this isn't the first bit of downloadable console content to receive a rating from the ESRB (The Knights of the Nine expansion for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was rated), it appears to be the first time the additional content has received a different rating than the product for which it is intended. Lumines Live received a rating of E for Everyone, while the Madonna artist pack has been tagged as E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older. There are no listings for Lumines Live's previous downloadable content packs.

Brendan Sinclair
February 15, 2007

Source: Gamespot

PSP Modding Video From Acidmods

F00 f00 from Acidmods has put together a time lapsed video of him tinkering inside a PSP. The video includes F00 foo installing a clear case, replacing the LEDs, adding blue lights to the shoulder buttons, and a adding 2nd analog stick. Check it out here.

Via Acidmods

Off Topic: "Respect Ratings" - Gamestop

US retailer Gamestop has taken out a full-page advert in USA Today to highlight its ongoing commitment to stopping minors buying games about slaughtering hookers and that.

"We Gamestop, as well as other retailers, have already stepped up with ESRB to regulate ourselves," spokesperson Clive Olivera told Eurogamer this afternoon.

"That's what this is all about. We wanted to bump it up and let the public know, especially consumers, that it is something we actually take quite seriously."

The advert features Gamestop president Steve Morgan peering strangely out from under a gigantic "Respect The Ratings" slogan, which is joined on the page by cubes with ominous ESRB ratings stamped on them.

Unlike the BBFC ratings in the UK, which are enforced by law, the ESRB system is used primarily as a guideline to highlight the content of a game; it isn't actually against the law to sell a Mature 17+ game to a minor in America.

"I think we can always do better," Olivera continued. "One mature-rated game sold to a minor is one too many. It's our goal to provide as much education as we can, not only to our employees but to consumers in general."

And hence RespectTheRatings.com was born, to help parents get a grip on the crazy world of videogames. Instead of, you know, shouting at them and being completely insane, like certain specific opponents to violent videogames.

"There is an audience for every game, just like there is a system for every consumer out there," Olivera added. "Gamestop is looking at providing as much information as possible so people can make an informed choice."

Which leaves only one question, really: what on earth is happening with Steve Morgan's face?

Rob Purchese
February 16, 2007

Source: Eurogamer

The Road to a Universal Platform

David Jaffe recently came under some criticism for a few statements to consumer website 1UP about his future visions of the game industry. The big headline, repeated across the Internet for a day or two, was "Ten years from now there will be one console". It was an unguarded comment, following his own nostalgia for the days of rampant console exclusivity. Jaffe expressed annoyance at the current standard of cross-platform development, and wondered if it was coming to the point where the only distinguishing factor from one console to the next would be its first-party software. From there he made the leap that this small distinction might not be enough justification for multiple consoles – therefore, he figured, perhaps we're on a road to a single universal platform.

There was much tittering in the aisles; a few people made comparisons to Trip Hawkins' dreams for the 3D0 – a console standard that, much like a VCR or other piece of home electronics, would be licensed out to any manufacturer with the initiative. In fact, that comparison is pretty appropriate in that both Trip and Mr. Jaffe have the same reasonable – and actually rather clever – idea, with the same understandable flaw.

The most essential problem is that unlike film or music, videogames have yet to come into their own. Before anything resembling standardization is appropriate, there are still tremendous problems in interface, design theory and craftsmanship to address – none of which, I feel it safe to predict, will be solved any time soon, given that at the moment no one seems to have a clue what to do about them. The difference between the Wii and the Xbox 360 should give a taste of how far we have to go before we're ready to settle.

Read the full article here...

Eric-Jon Rössel Waugh
February 16, 2007

Source: Next-Gen.biz

Exclusive Sony announcements primed for GDC

Sony Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison has confirmed that Sony will be making "exclusive announcements" and next month's Games Developers Conference.

Speaking to 1UP, Harrison refused to elaborate on Sony's plans for the event, only adding that Sony "have some interesting announcements to make".

"I think it's no secret that we're going to make a couple of exclusive announcements there," he said.

Harrison also said that Sony will not allow competitors to change its plans and that the firm will continue to plow its own furrow.

"It's important to understand from our point of view, we are not focused on one competitor, trying to adjust or change our strategy because of what one competitor is doing in the market," he said. "We have our strategy, we're here to grow the market, we're here to build out the PlayStation brand and experience on a worldwide basis, building on the success that we have and we're continuing to do that."

Andy Robinson
February 15, 2007

Source: CVG

"No PSP development in UK," says UK developer. But what of DS? And does it matter anyway?

An anonymous UK developer, writing in the comments section of, this Gamesblog post has provided a scathing assesment of the PSP's future. "There are virtually no PSP games being developed in the UK," he claims, citing comparatively high development costs and small userbase as key explanations.

"At a GDC conference in Brighton last year, everyone walked away from the PSP. Developers had to budget for PS2 content on a handheld with a tiny userbase. Its not cost effective, (especially when the alternative DS has a massive userbase and is cheap to develop for).

At the same time, Nintendo had sent Wiimotes that plug into Gamecube devkits to all registered developers. Instead of forking out thousands of quid to Sony for devkits that they still weren't releasing, studios were coming up with innovative Wii ideas. Instead of training coders to program the world's most complicated Cell processor, the Gamecube team just switched to the Wii."

A quick look at the PSP release schedule shows a flurry of activity heading into mid-March (just in time for Easter), but things thin out afterwards. Stalwarts like SOCOM and Metal Gear Solid should prop things up, but in terms of true Triple A titles coming from British developers, there's really only Manhunt 2, plus Sumo Digital's conversions of Virtua Tennis and Driver 76.

It could be argued, of course, that major UK-developed DS titles are just as rare. Diddy Kong Racing DS, perhaps. What else? Britain has never really been a major force in the handheld market, with publishers usually outsourcing portable conversions to smaller third-party studios, which are often given just six months to port console code across to handheld platforms.

Read the full text here...

Keith Stuart
February 14, 2007

Source: Guardian Unlimited

Off Topic: Further decline for print mags

The latest figures from ABC have revealed that gaming magazines appear to be in a continuing decline, with a few bright spots as readership of many Future and Imagine titles falls once again.

OPSM2's monthly circulation is down 24 per cent from the August 2006 figures to hit 76,351. But there has been a 17 per cent rise for Official Nintendo, with readership almost topping 43,000 copies per month.

Official Xbox 360 is also up from 42,680 to just over 56,000, with sales likely to have been boosted by the closure of Official Xbox Magazine. Figures for the new Official PlayStation 3 Magazine were not provided.

Excluding OPSM3, 175,368 official titles are sold each month - compared to 218,863 six months previously.

As for the battle of the unofficial mags, Future's PSW is down from nearly 34,500 to just over 26,000 copies, while Imagine-published Play is in the lead with 29,000 - despite a 37.5 per cent drop in readership compared to a year ago.

Circulation for Imagine's Powerstation was down to 15,171 from 22,288 in February 2006. Future-published rival PSM2, currently transitioning to become PSM3, saw a drop of more than 25 per cent over the past six months to hit just over 26,500.

Xbox 360 World, another Future mag, saw its circulation remaining steady at around 23,000, while readership for Imagine's X360 was up more than 20 per cent to edge past the 28,000 mark.

The figure for 360, also published by Imagine, fell slightly from 13,098 to 11,369. Relative newcomer Uncooked Media experienced a rise in sales for 360 Gamer, which went up from 9100 to top 10,600.

PC titles appear to be in a slow but steady decline - PC Zone is down from just over 30,000 to 27,000, while PC Gamer lost 1675 readers to hit just over 43,600.

It's a different story for the multi-platform titles, which appear to be in a stable position. Games Master's readership is now hovering around the 54,000 mark following a small increase in sales, while circulation for Imagine's Games TM still stands at just over 20,000. Once again, Edge faired better than many of Future's publications - readership is up from 33,597 to 35,145, a rise of more than 4 per cent.

Ellie Gibson
February 15, 2007

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Get your song in Burnout

EA's teamed up with Virgin Records and Epiphone to go on a MySpace-wide talent search for the best new bands and artists, offering the winner a chance for their track to appear in Burnout Dominator.

Not only that, if your song is voted into the top ranks by the MySpace community and picked as a winner by a panel of judges, you'll also bag yourself a Virgin Records demo recording contract.

All you have to do to enter is create a MySpace account for yourself, or your band, then upload your track and enter it into the competition. Your tune will then go into a gallery, one for the US and one for Europe, where the online community will listen and rate your entry, resulting in a winner being selected for each region.

The Burnout Bandslam competition began earlier this month, and the closing date for it is 14th March.

Head over to the website if you're feeling lucky, or to vote on other people's creations.

Burnout Dominator is due for release on PS2 and PSP on 23rd March. Head over to the gamepages for the latest media.

Rob Purchese
February 14, 2007

Source: Eurogamer

StrmnNrmn on Daedalus Audio Support

StrmnNrmn sure has been keeping us up to speed about the progress of the next version of his N64 emulator for the PSP, Daedalus R9. His latest update reveals information about implementing audio support in Daedalus, what to expect from it and how it affects performance. Here's an excerpt form his post discussing the implementation of audio support:

So, back to audio support in Daedalus. I had come to the point with implementing various dynarec improvements that I felt it was worth looking into audio to get an idea how how well it would work, and how much of a performance hit there was. As I was saying, one of the reasons I'd been putting off implementing audio support was that I knew that taking a high-level approach was going to be time consuming and error prone. The alternative, low level emulation, just wasn't practical from a performance point of view.

In the end, I decided to see if I could find the source for a PC audio plugin, and adapt this for use with Daedalus. I was fortunate enough to discover that Azimer had made the source for v0.55 of his audio plugin available (Azimer - if you're reading this, please drop me a line to say hello :) My reasoning was that if I could get something up and running in a couple of evenings then I could figure out how much work would be involved in getting it polished. If it looked like it was going to be too much work then I could revert all my changes and at most I'd have wasted just a few hours.

In the end it all went incredibly well. Azimer's source was very self-contained, with just a couple of hooks to implement to get it working. There were a few small issues to solve like having to upsample the output to 44.1KHz (as the PSP output is fixed at this frequency), but nothing that took more than a couple of hours.

So, how does it sound? Well, it's pretty variable. It sounds great in places where there's a high enough framerate to keep the audio buffer full. Mario 64 is pretty good for this - it seems 25fps is a minimum to avoid any choppiness in the output. When the framerate drops lower than this the audio quality does start to suffer significantly. On the plus side, it seems to be decoding everything correctly in all the roms

Which brings me to my next point - how does enabling audio support affect the performance of the emulator? I've not had chance to measure this empirically, but it probably slows things down by about 10-20%. Given that R9 is running about 40-100% faster than R8, you should be able to run R9 with audio and still see a small speedup. In any case, I've added an option to enable or disable the audio in the front-end (this is also accessible from the pause menu while the rom is running). I've tested so for, which means that the quality is only going to improve as I make further improvements to the performance of the emulator.

You can read StrmnNrmn's message in it's entirety here. Keep checking back for more updates or maybe even (*GASP*) a release.

Source:  Retro Console Dev

The worst-selling games of 2006

The game industry is quick to trump its accomplishments; bestsellers, growing revenues, and market expansion. The optimist in us likes that, but what's a pessimist to do? Well the recent issue of EGM (Mar '07) has a listicle that's hard to argue over: the worst-selling games of 2006. Though the always-serious Seanbaby fails to mention a specific source, he says "These games were selected from sales figures of the least purchased games of 2006 -- cold, hard, indisputable measurements of suck." They are:

• Unison: Rebels of Rhythm & Dance (PS2)
• Kakuto Chojin: Back Alley Brutal (XB)
• Frogger Beyond (XB)
• Bomberman: Act Zero (XB360)
• Freestyle Street Soccer (XB)
• Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness (XB)
• Space Ace (XB)

That's a lot of Xbox 1 games. Translation: "She's going down! Send the dross with it!"

Blake Snow
February 14, 2007

Source: Joystiq

NJ ends PSP development with CPS1PSP/CPS2PSP/MVSPSP/NCDZPSP v2.0

NJ again says goodbye to homebrew PSP development, leaving us with major updates to his suite of emulators. These updates now bring CPS1PSP, CPS2PSP, MVSPSP, NCDZPSP to version 2.0, adding ad-hoc wireless versions of each of them. I have provided NJ's farewell message concerning these releases as translated by b8a over at DCEmu, Check out the download pages using the links at the bottom for the files and their respective change logs.

Overview

• If you have used any of the previous versions please take note that a portion of the control scheme as changed. The menu is opened with the HOME button.
• Please read the readme_???.txt included with each software first.
• The control schemes are all pretty much the same. They are written in the readme_???.txt (files) so please run your eyes over them.
• For all menus other than the main menu, there is a simple controls help function available. It is displayed by pressing the R TRIGGER, so please run your eyes over these as well.
• I have also prepared Japanese language versions of the 3 arcade emulators, however the amount of allocatable memory decreases by about 800KB (with these).

About The resource_jp.zip (file) Included With The English Language Version (Excluding NCDZPSP)

• The files included in the English language version resource_jp.zip are files that are necessary if Japanese is to be used in the game list and the command list.
• * If you are not going to use Japanese this (file) is unnecessary so please delete it.
  
• *When displaying Japanese, copy the files included in resource_jp.zip exactly as they are to /PSP/GAME/CPS1PSP/.
• Even in the English language version, when using the Japanese command list, the Japanese font is loaded, and the amount of allocatable memory decreases by that amount.

About Emulators That Use Cache

• All of the CPS2PSP games, as well as almost half of the MVSPSP games, will not run if you do not create cache files for them.
• Please create the cache files with the romcnv_cps2.exe and/or romcnv.mvs.exe included with the released binaries. Since I included a version check, you can not use older cache files.
• With CPS2PSP, it is possible to use zip compressed cache files, however, the speed drops considerably compared to uncompressed cache files. Other than a few of the smaller games, I recommend that you use uncompressed cache files.
• When using cache files, the speed of the game is influenced by the loading speed of the Memory Stick. When using AdHoc, the speed of your opponent's (Memory Stick) will have an effect, so it is better if you don't use pre-PRO Memory Sticks.

About The AdHoc Version

• I put various efforts into stabilizing it, but since there are a lot of unknowns about the PSP AdHoc, even though it's gotten somewhat better, it's still unstable.
• It's possible to play normally even with the AdHoc version. The reason I separated it from the regular version is because the speed of the AdHoc version is somewhat slower. If you do not plan on using AdHoc, I recommend that you use the regular version.
• When using AdHoc, a portion of the options are fixed. Due to synchronization circumstances with NCDZPSP, the load screen emulation is always set.
• Since you can't synchronize with different binaries, you will not be able to connect between a Japanese version and an English version.

About The Command List File Size Reduction Function (I forgot to write this in the documentation)

• When you select command.dat in the file browser, the file size reduction function starts up. Since the Japanese language version of a MAME! Plus command list is close to 4MB, please execute this first. Game loading times will somewhat decrease.

*Please refer to each emulator's section to see what's changed.

Download CPS1PSP v2.0 (Capcom Play System)
Download CPS2PSP v2.0 (Capcom Play System 2)
Download MVSPSP v2.0 (NeoGeo MVS)
Download NCDZPSP v2.0 (Neogeo CD)

Source: DCEmu

Dark_AleX's Open Edition Network Update Downloader BETA1

Xandu has released his application that turns the Network Update icon into a update downloader for Dark_AleX's Open Edition firmware. What this does is simply download an UPDATE.rar file to the root of the memory stick. Unfortuneately it does not install the update but maybe that's something we can hope for the the future. Installation does require writing to flash0 so there is a risk of bricking your beloved PSP. Xandu would like to thank Homer, yaustar, Malksta and everyone else that helped beta test the application. Here are the instructions that he provided on DCEmu:

Instructions:

• Flash update_plugin.prx using the flash update.
• Make sure your first connection is active and working..
• Use Network Update
• UPDATE.rar should be in the MS root after the download is complete.

Warning:
This has a risk of bricking when using FLASHUPDATE. I am not responsible for any damage that may happen to your device.

Note:
You can also flash using Flash0 USB mode in Open Edition. (vsh/nodule)

Download Dark_AleX's Open Edition Network Update Downloader BETA1

Source: Xandu via DCEmu

Off Topic: Presidential hopeful resurrects federal game bill

Republican Senator Sam Brownback reintroduces Truth in Video Game Rating Act, which would require the ESRB to complete games before rating them.

Last month, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback declared he would seek the 2008 Republican Nomination for President of the United States. His first speech as a candidate was roundly mocked on the January 23 episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart for his repeated use of the words "greatness" and "goodness." (The same program also pilloried the entire spectrum of Democratic candidates, including the "first Leprechaun president[al]" hopeful, Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich.)

Today, Brownback took a very public step to prove the American public how "good" and "great" he is. The Senator announced that he was re-introducing the Truth in Video Game Rating Act (S.3935), a measure he first submitted last September. If made law, the act would require the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) to play the final build of a game from beginning to end before it gives said game a rating.

"Video game reviewers should be required to review the entire content of a game to ensure the accuracy of the rating," Brownback said in a statement. "The current video game ratings system is not as accurate as it could be because reviewers do not see the full content of games and do not even play the games they rate." The Truth in Video Game Rating Act would also commission a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study to "determine the efficacy of the...ESRB ratings system."

Read the full article here...

Tor Thorsen
February 13, 2007

Source: Gamespot

Dark_AleX OE Network Update Downloader coming soon from Xandu

Xandu has posted on DCEmu about an application he's working on that replaces the Network Update feature with one that downloads the latest update to Dark_AleX's Open Edition custom firmware. The only information that Xandu offered was that he hadn't released the application yet due to connection issues. Hopefully we get to see something soon!

Via DCEmu

Are hardcore gamers on the decline?

Ars Technica has an article by Frank Caron that takes a look at 2006 game sales and the possiblity that the number of hardcore gamers is decreasing, noting surprising sales figures for licensed games like Cars. From the article:

The demographic of the top 100 game sales by genre reveals expected numbers. Sports games and licensed games (e.g. titles based on licenses like Disney) were at the top of the list by a large margin, each with over 20 games of the top 100 of 2006. Action games and shooters followed with about 10 games each. Platformers, RPGs, racing games and others rounded out the bottom of the list. Likewise, publisher market share was hardly surprising, with EA taking the majority of the pie, followed by Nintendo, Take Two and Ubisoft. The report even documents release dates, which show an expected gravitation towards the holiday season.

As the report runs down the top 100 games by sales, though, things get a little more interesting. Despite the genre bar graph showing a high number of licensed game sales, I never really considered which titles were breaking the records. Surprisingly, Cars managed to take second place on the list of games sold. After Madden, Cars was the best-selling game of 2006. Though generally considered to be a triumphant waste of time and money, Cars demonstrates quite readily the power of a license in the place of competent gameplay. The game even managed to topple Lego Star Wars, which I would have expected to top the list, given its appeal to the hardcore and casual gamer alike. This surprised me.

Read the full article here...

Source: Ars Technica

StrmnNrmn Previews Daedalus R9 UI

StrmnNrmn has posted a screenshot on his blog of the new interface he's been working on for the next version of Daedalus. He notes:

Please don't read anything into the list of titles shown in the screenshot above! I haven't been working on compatibility in R9 (with the exception of a few PIF fixes), so it's unlikely that anything which was broken in R8 is now working. Once R9 is released I'll hold a straw poll to see if you want me to focus on compatibility in R10, and if so, which titles.

Source:  Retro Console Dev

Planet Moon No Longer PSP Exclusive

Early in the PSP's life cycle, Planet Moon Studios made news by becoming a PSP-exclusive independent developer. The idea at the time was that the company wanted to find a platform that would allow it to continue to make creative games, and because of various market factors, decided PSP was the one.

After a three game publishing deal with Majesco was cut short, however, the company had a chance to look over its options, and as we've just learned, is now moving away from simply working on Sony's portable.

"We're no longer a PSP exclusive developer," confirms Planet Moon chief operating officer Aaron Loeb. "One of the things that was funny was when we made that announcement, people assumed what we were announcing. They sort of read between the lines and assumed that we'd become a handheld developer, which was never our intention with it. The goal of Planet Moon when it was founded was to make original IP and it's still our goal as a company -- it's still our striving mission."

Read the full article here...

Matt Leone
February 31, 2007

Source: 1UP

Daedalus R9 Details Plus Questions Answered

Over the weekend StrmnNrmn posted some information on the performance improvements he's made on his N64 emulator, Daedalus. All of the test results that he published on his blog showed significant framerate increases, about 40% on average according to StrmnNrmn. Here's an excerpt from the update he posted on his blog:

Clearly there's a significant improvement in framerate. On average, games are running about 40% faster, but in many cases the framerate has almost doubled. Subjectively, the difference means that many games are feeling a lot more responsive and playable now. Anything over 20fps 'feels' pretty good, but my long-term goal is to get this up to 30fps for as many titles as possible.

I noticed a couple of interesting differences between the two builds when running the tests, and you can see some of these in the new screenshots. Firstly, notice that the shadows in Super Mario 64 are all nice and round. This is due to the 'mirrored texture support' that I mentioned in Thursday's update (this also fixes the star that opens over Mario's head in the title sequence).

Secondly, the jerky/shaky screen that was affecting Mario Kart 64 now seems to be fixed. I'm not quite sure what was causing this, but I'm glad it's fixed :)

Next, notice that the text is Quest 64 is now fixed. In R8 this was horribly corrupted. This is due to the fixing a few texture conversion bugs as I was introducing proper support for 16 bit textures.

Finally, the texture on the floor in Quest 64 is now fixed. Again, I'm not totally sure what change is responsible for this, but it's nice to see it working correctly.

Read the full text of his post and the test results here...

Of course, with these new developments in the past few days, there come lots questions and comments. Yesterday StrmnNrmn responded to some common questions posed by his readers. Check out the questions and StrmnNrmn's answers here.

Source:  Retro Console Dev

More notes about the Flash Cleaner

From Fanjita and the Noobz crew:

After encountering the 'device full' error another two times today, on two separate non-modchipped PSPs, we did some more investigation, and have now finally understood exactly what causes it.

It seems that if you have a memory stick with corrupted data on it, then it can give the 8001001C error mentioned in the previous article, when you try to run the downgrader.  Fixing the corrupted data fixed the problem.

The moral of this story is that it is best to run any downgrader on a totally clean memory stick - format the stick on your PSP before loading on the necessary files.  And if you are having problems running the downgrader, try using a disk corruption fixer (like ChkDsk or the disk repair tools in Windows) on the memory stick, as it may fix it.

While we're on the subject of the downgrader, and HEN - we are not currently working on a version that does not require GTA.  It's not currently possible.  If you are having trouble finding a copy of GTA, then refer to this forum thread for a solution.

Source: Noobz

Sony's success 'won't depend on MS or Nintendo'

Ready At Dawn president Didier Malenfant has told GamesIndustry.biz that Sony's performance in the next-gen console market will be determined by the actions of the company itself, not those of its rivals.

"It's their market to lose. That's the reality," Malenfant observed.

"It doesn't depend on Nintendo or Microsoft - it depends on them. They've got a great platform in the PS3, they've got great teams working with them, but every hardware transition is difficult.

"Next-gen involves a lot of money, it's a big investment, and it's going to be a difficult time of transition whether you're Microsoft or Sony."

Malenfant conceded that Sony's image has suffered in recent months, stating, "I think that's the price you pay for being the number one player in the industry. You can see that with Microsoft with operating systems - after a while, you become the favourite target."

Read the full article here...

Ellie Gibson
February 12, 2007

Read the interview here...

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Skype coming to the PSP?

A PSPUpdates writer was tipped off by MaTiAz about the possiblity of future Skype functionality on the PSP after he found a reference to "skype_plugin.prx" in a decrypted vshmain.prx from firmware 3.10. Does this mean that Sony is starting to introduce features that (officially) turns the PSP into more than just a handheld gaming device? I've provided his screenshot highlighting the the skype_plugin.prx reference. The author notes that earlier firmware versions have given clues about future functionality like the camera and GPS.

Note from Auri: Sony's Mylo ("My Life Online") device has a Skype client built-in. It stands to reason the same code may be used / usable on the PSP... Makes sense to me :)




Via PSPUpdates

Q & A with Phil Harrison @ D.I.C.E.

Yesterday Sony's Phil Harrison sat down with Newsweek's N'Gai Croal for an suncensored Q&A session at the D.I.C.E. summit in Las Vegas. None of N'Gai's questions were seen by Harrison prior to the session. Much of their talk was about the PS3 and how it measures up to the Xbox 360, especially in terms of game development. Gamasutra has some highlights from the Q&A session and Wired.com has a blog providing a fairly rough transcript. Here are a few of the highlights from Gamasutra:

Q: "Perhaps Sony’s third-party relations have been less effective than when you were the point person. How much intel do you have on developer support, and how does Sony plan to improve this?"

Harrison started by admitting: "There’s no point in me being defensive. If that’s what people are saying, there has to be an element of truth in it." He went on to comment that "we can always do a better job", but noted of particular apparent complaints that some key technical documents and information originate in Japan and do not always flow easily to other parts of the world: "Most of the key components of PS3 were created in English speaking parts of the world."

Q: "During the previous generation, it was well known that the major distinction between PS2 and Xbox was that the integrated online experience of Xbox Live was far superior to what Sony was providing - can you comment about this generation?"

Harrison noted: "The launch of a platform like PS3 is not a fixed specification the day you buy the console", commenting that: "The chipset stays the same but what it does in software changes over time," addding, "We’ll continue to refine [the PlayStation 3 Network], not just for developer experience, but for consumers too."

He also added obliquely: "This year we’ll be adding some functionality to the PSP that will unify our approach", hinting at a more robust download service for Sony's portable that has been rumored for some time now.

Q: "Valve's Gabe Newell said [in a recent Game Informer interview] that the PS3 launch was a 'total disaster'. He isn’t the only developer who wanted me to ask this. Why wasn’t the launch postponed to say, spring, when many issues could have been resolved?"

Harrison started by asking: "By what measure is the launch of PS3 unsuccessful? We had people lined up in stores in three continents." However, he noted, "we can always sell more", and as for the company's plans, the European launch is "on track for March." The Sony VP particularly noted that "the boat with the first supply is on its way from China as we speak. I think it’s a fantastic achievement."

Via Gamasutra & Wired

New Daedalus Nintendo 64 Emulator coming soon - and with sound?

Strmnnrmn has resurfaced and has some great news for PSP homebrew lovers! An update to the incredible Daedalus Nintendo 64 emulator is on its way - and WITH SOUND! It is rumored that Mario 64 may even run at full speed! So... without further delay - here's a copy of the blog post from his site:

Wow, it's been a long time since the last update. A really long time. How did that happen?

I've always found it quite hard to find the time to update the blog. Usually when I have some free time in the evenings (that's free time spent doing things other than eating, socialising, and getting stuff ready for work), the choices I have are:

• Do some new development on Daedalus
• Play games/watch TV/relax
• Reply to a few emails/comments, post a new entry here
  

Unfortunately over the past half year or so the first two bullet points have won out. So, apologies for neglecting the 'outside world' for so long. On the plus side, the existance of the first bullet points means that I have lots of exciting new developments to talk about over the next few days :)

I'm going to finish off this reintroduction with a broad overview of some of the stuff I've been working on. This is all stuff that will be present in R9, which I'd like to release this month.

• Added support for RGBA 4444 and 5551 textures, saving a bunch of memory in the front end.
• Tidied up all the texture conversion code, fixing a few bugs in the process
• Fixed the width/height of FillRect calls in 1 and 2 cycle mode (fixed a few small graphical issues)
  
• Fixed a blending bug (fixed a few small graphical issues)
  
• Use 16-bit textures on the PSP to represent 16-bit N64 textures. Saves time converting, saves memory, and faster rendering
• Added mirrored texture support (this fixes lots of small graphical glitches)
• Fixed a LoadTile bug, allowing a couple of hacks to be removed (this also fixes various small graphical glitches)
• Added some new blend modes for various roms
• Fixed the Tri2 command for F3DLX microcodes
• Fixed a bug in busy-wait detection (this wasn't working correctly with dynarec code, net result is a small speedup)
• Fixed a few dynarec stability issues (relating to exceptions occuring mid-trace)
• Added audio support :)
• Added the ability to dump textures (developer builds only at the moment)
• Fixed screenshots. Again.
• Implemented cmp.s, cvt.s, cvt.w, mtc1, mfc1, bc1f, bc1t, j, cfc1, ctc1, daddu, trunc.w.s, bc1t, bc1f, bc1tl, bcifl, bnel, beql, blezl, bgtzl, bltzl, blezl in dynarec (this gives a decent speedup)
• Avoid setting the branch delay flag and current PC in generated dynarec code unless absolutely necessary (this gives another small speedup)
• Much better memory access handling in dynamically recompiled code (this gives a BIG speedup :)
• Use a second code buffer for generated dynarec code, to avoid polluting the instruction cache (this gives another small speedup)
• Further improve the memory access handling in generated dynarec code (another small speedup)
• Fix register usage analysis for lwc1/swc1/mfc1/mtc1 which was preventing base registers used in these instructions from being cached (another small speedup)
• Have compensation blocks restore nobbled registers, so on-trace code does't need to reload (another small speedup)

There's quite a lot in that list, so I highlighted the two most significant points. In summary R9 will be much faster, with audio support. I'll write a bit more about these changes in particular over the next few days (promise!)

GameCube on the PSP?

PSPUpdates has posted a YouTube video on their site that appears to show a GameCube game running on or through a PSP using a GameCube controller. Be warned that the lighting in this video is pretty bad. It looks like obiwan22, the creator of this purported hack, used a flashlight in a dark room when he decided to make the video. Apparently he's promising a tutorial on how to replicate his project some time in the near future. Until then, check out the video by following the link below.

Check out the video here...

Obiwan22's Website

Via PSPUpdates

Off Topic: N.Y. lawmaker hopes to ban iPod use in crosswalks

A New York state senator has announced his plan to introduce legislation that would ban the use of electronic devices such as iPods, BlackBerrys and cell phones while crossing streets in major cities.

State Sen. Carl Krueger, a Democrat who represents New York's 27th district in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, claimed that the phenomenon of "iPod oblivion" has led to a number of fatal accidents on urban streets. While he did not cite any statistical studies that have indicated a rise in such incidents, he referred to the January death of a 23-year-old Brooklyn man who, tuned into his iPod headphones, walked into the path of a city bus.

The bill would effectively make it illegal to use any kind of portable electronic device--a music or video player, cell phone, smart phone, gaming device, etc.--while crossing the street in cities such as New York, Albany and Buffalo. Offenders would be slapped with a $100 fine and a criminal court summons. Joggers and bicyclists would have to limit their iPod use to city parks in which no street crossing would be involved.

"You can't be fully aware of your surroundings if you're fiddling with a BlackBerry, dialing a phone number, playing Super Mario Brothers on a Game Boy, or listening to music on an iPod," Krueger said in a statement. He added that while police in other major cities--such as San Diego, Calif.--have warned that tuning in to portable electronic devices may leave pedestrians vulnerable to threats from pickpockets and muggers, he believes the real threat is from road traffic.

Read the full article here...

Caroline McCarthy
February 7, 2007

Source: CNET News

No need for a Flash Cleaner

From Fanjita and the Noobz crew:

After some exhaustive testing, we've now come to the conclusion that there is no unnecessary wastage of flash space during the 3.03 downgrader process.

This means that our belief that there would be a need for a "flash cleaning" application was wrong - you should be able to upgrade and downgrade your PSP at will, with no serious problems except for the ever-present small risk from any downgrader.

Our original theory was based upon the fact that Fanjita's Undiluted Platinum test PSP showed signs of having run out of space on the flash, after several cycles of upgrade and downgrade.

The symptom, for reference, was an error code of "8001001C when starting ipl_update.prx" - which means "no space left on device" - when trying to run the 3.03 downgrader.

But after an extensive test of 10 upgrade/downgrade cycles between v3.03 and v1.50 without any problems, we believe we can now put the problem down to issues with the interaction between the Undiluted Platinum flasher program, and v3.00+ firmwares, which has previously caused flash problems with other people's UP PSPs.

So ... no worries!

Fanjita
February 7, 2007

Source: Noobz.eu

A how-to guide for xmbWave beginners

For the guys hoping for an update for Vulpix's xmbWave - the cool app that allows you to customize your PSP XMB browser's waves -  look the other way. However, if you're a newcomer to the PSP developer scene and are hoping for a step-by-step tutorial on how to get this app cracking (the readme was admittedly scant on details), come on over.

Homebrew dev sepreath has just posted a guide which should serve as a primer for first-time brew meisters. The guide includes a list of things you will need, and some important values to keep track of so you won't end up breaking the waves. For starters, here's what you need:

• XMBWave editor (Downloadable below)
• Common sense
• Hopefully some hex skills
• A hex editor (Hex Workshop comes to mind)

As for the first few steps, and the wave values:

[1.1]
So first off copy your original system_plugin_bg.rco from you PSP and back it up to your
computer. It is found in Flash0:/vsh/resource. Also backup the system_plugin_bg_deflate.bin
that cam with the XMBWave package. It'll save you some headaches later on!

[1.2]
The offsets that I know of, in decimal, are:
528 => 946 controls the shape of the wave, very easily ruined! Or made crazy.
7653 => 7766 appears to control the color and contrast of the waves.
7767 => 7841 => controls the colour of the waves.

We're hoping this guide provides you with a basic understanding of how xmbWave works. Make sure to check out the full walkthrough sepreath set up (Read link). Who knows, the tutorial might inspire the readers to cook up some interesting offshoots of xmbWave. We thank the man for the effort - a lot of noobs here are grateful.

Read the tutorial here...

Download xmbWave

Source: PSPUpdates

HMV forced to scrap £625 PS3 bundle

HMV has been forced to scrap plans that forced people to buy the PS3 as part of a £625 bundle after a number of complaints from potential customers.

The store was forced to rethink its plans to give online customers that bought a 4GB PSP first dibs on the PS3 when it is released in March. This would add £200 to the price of a Playstation 3.

In its original email, sent to a “lucky few”, HMV claimed: "We've been working with Sony to offer up to 5,000 customers an incredible deal when [they] buy the new Sony 4GB PSP.

"Anyone who takes advantage of this offer will get priority over other HMV.co.uk customers for the Playstation 3."

However, the company has now changed its plans, and will offer the PS3 on a “first come, first served basis, with priority going to those customers who registered an initial interest to receive PS3 pre-order details once they were confirmed”.

In a statement prepared for Computeractive, HMV said: “Now that we've been able to confirm our level of PS3 stock with Sony, we're in a position to revise our original online offer.

“We will therefore be writing imminently to all the customers who have indicated that they wish to make the dual purchase to advise them that they can now pre-order the PS3 console by itself, if they prefer.”

The company has also promised to inform all its other online customers via email that they will be making a limited quantity of PS3 consoles available to pre-order online with the majority of consoles being made available to pre-order through the chain of stores.

Complaints have surrounded the UK price of the much-delayed PS3 since its announcement. Sony was forced to defend its cost after it said the Playstation 3 would cost £425 in the UK, despite it costing the equivalent of £305 in the US and £252 in Japan.

Andrea-Marie Vassou
February 8, 2007

Source: Computeract!ve

3.11 pwned! Decrypter out now!

Sony: Firmware 3.11 out now!
Homebrew Scene: Oh really? What now?
Sony: Why are you not upgrading yet?
Homebrew Scene: Because we are going to crack it, noob!

And indeed, firmware 3.11 has been cracked. Well, not fully but it has been decrypted. After all, this is always the first step. What's more amazing is that, Team C+D didn't even have to come up with a new program. The same decrypter that was used for 3.10 was found to be working as well for the new firmware.

But for the benefit of those who missed the fun the last time around, we listed again the things you need to do. But on second thought, who could have missed it? Because we're telling you, we wouldn't miss it for the world. Anyway, enough chatter, here's the step by step process:

1. To dump the firmware open up the Eboot with psp brew or PBP unpacker
2. Extract the DATA.PSAR to the root of your memory stick.
3. Copy psar_dump2 and psar_dump2% to your GAME150 folder. (Or whatever you kernel is set to)
4. Launch it from the game menu.
5. Select what option you wish to have. Then it will dump the contents to the root of your memory stick.

Download 3.11 Firmware Decrypter by Team C+D

Source: PSPUpdates

Firmware 3.11 Released

As promised Sony has released PSP system update version 3.11. The change log on the US PlayStation website doesn't indicate that there were any security patches but let's not assume that none were included. For now it would proabaly be a good idea to hold off on installing this update until the Noobz crew has a chance to really get their hands dirty. The change log from the US PlayStation site is below. Note that most of the updates were items included in 3.10.

• Game
• New for 3.10: Support for PLAYSTATION®Network titles has been expanded.
• New for 3.11: Support for PLAYSTATION®Network titles has been expanded.
• New for 3.11: [Reset Game] has been added as an option to the menu for PLAYSTATION®Network titles.
• Network
• You can now play MPEG-4 AVC format video files under [LocationFree™ Player].
• A LocationFree™ Base Station (a Sony product sold separately) with model number LF-B20 or LF-B10 is required.
• For details on the LocationFree™ Player, visit http://www.sony.net/Products/LocationFree/psp/.
• [Conserve Memory] has been added as an option in [View Settings] under [Internet Browser].
• Settings
• [Dynamic Normalizer] has been added as a feature under [Sound Settings].

Download PSP System Update 3.11

Study: Action games improve eyesight

The benefits-versus-harms-of-gaming debate continued this week with a plus for those in support of the positive effects of spending time with a controller. Researchers at The University of Rochester published a paper in Psychological Science this week regarding a study on the effects of gaming and eyesight.

The study found a noticeable difference between the visual acuity of subjects after a session of action-oriented gaming, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

Those who played the first-person shooter Unreal Tournament (the paper did not say which version of Unreal Tournament was played) experienced greater improvements to visual acuity and peripheral vision than subjects who had played Tetris.

Professor Daphne Bavelier, who ran the study, said the research gives hope to those who feared the part of the brain that manages visual acuity could not improve after adulthood. She also said that gaming, because of participation by subjects, likely has a greater affect on eyesight than passive media, such as movies or television shows.

Tim Surette
February 6, 2007

Source: GameSpot

Off Topic: France Approves Game Tax Credit

In a move that could have oppressed German game developers looking jealously towards the southwest, the French Parliament has approved a plan to allow game developers creating games with a "with a cultural dimension" a tax credit equaling 20% of development costs up to 3 million euros a year. That's a pretty sizeable chunk of change aimed at keeping developers in the country, providing a sharp contrast to Germany, where some game developers are looked on and treated like borderline criminals.

So what determines if a game has a cultural dimension? Anything from the story the music, the look and feel, etc., so while a game about killing space aliens on a made up planet might not fall under the criteria, killing space aliens in the Louvre to the music of Jean-Marie Leclair just might.

Devs shouldn't start counting their euros yet however, as the European Commission is currently looking the plan over to see if it constitutes a EU policy violating subsidy.

Michael Fahey
February 7, 2007

Source: Kotaku

Retailers slam HMV over PS3 deal

Top games retailers have hit out at HMV for a deal that guaranteed customers a PS3 at launch if they bought a bundle including the console and a PSP.

An email from the firm last Friday guaranteed 5,000 consumers that they could be one of the ‘lucky few’ to pick up a PS3 on March 23rd – so long as they committed to buying a PS3, a 4GB PSP and two PSP games for £674.99.

HMV has now widened its PS3 offer to include taking ‘normal' pre-order deposits in store and on the web. It has continued the online PSP online, but customers of the deal will no longer be prioritised at launch.

“We won’t be following HMV’s lead on the PSP pre-order bundle, because we won’t hold our customers to ransom,” head of games at Choices UK Martin Baxter told MCV.

Head of promotions and PR at Virgin Megastores Stephen Lynn added: “HMV’s deal is up to them at the end of the day, but it’s not the sort of thing we’d offer our customers because we’re trying to keep things simple on PS3. We wouldn’t want to risk confusing our customers over any product – let alone one of this expense.”

 A spokesperson for HMV said the firm refuses to comment on the opinions of other retailers.

Tim Ingham
February 7, 2007

Source: MCVUK

GameStop: Sell an M-rated game to a minor, enjoy unemployment

If you plan on buying the M-rated classic, Bad Boys: Miami Take Down from your local GameStop, you might want to make sure you bring your ID and a DNA sample to prove it's actually you. Our sources close to the retailer tell us that the company is laying down the law on M-rated title sales to minors, Apprentice style.

In a conference call held late last week, managers were informed of the new, stricter M-rated software sales policy. Selling a game to a minor and getting caught will result in immediate termination. But it gets better -- if an hourly employee sells an M-rated game to a minor, not only will he or she lose their job, but the salaried store manager will be terminated as well, even if they were not present in the store at the time of the sale. Yikes.

The company has always had a policy of not selling M-rated titles to those under the age of 17. But this bold and threatening policy is a new step, no doubt influenced by the recent waves of legislation and related media coverage.

Read the full text here...

Nick Chester
February 7, 2007

Source: Destructoid

Sony takes up opera as PlayStation gets serious

The curtain will rise on one of the more bizarre business alliances of recent years on Monday, when Sony’s PlayStation unit unveils a collaboration with English National Opera.

A website that will give “the PlayStation generation” a glimpse of life backstage at a Sony-sponsored production of Puccini’s La Bohème is part of a campaign by the Japanese group to plough nearly £1 million into the arts in Britain, in an oblique effort to stem heavy losses at its video games division. Sony will also pay to have a PlayStation 3 installed in the foyer of the London Coliseum.

The investment marks a shift in Sony’s marketing strategy, aimed at bolstering its highbrow credentials and broadening the appeal of the PS3 console before its launch in the UK next month. With a price tag of £425, Sony is betting that as many affluent adults as children go for the games machine.

Sony is also preparing a campaign with British schools bodies that will promote its struggling PlayStation Portable (PSP) as a learning tool.

As the world’s bestselling games console, the PS2 may have attained already the status of cultural icon for millions of teenage boys. However, with the average age of Britain’s 7.5 million PS2 owners estimated at 24, and 70 per cent of them male, Sony is desperate to widen the brand’s reach.

Read the full article here...

Rhys Blakely
February 3, 2007

Source: TimesOnline

Off Topic: Florida Bar faces Thompson in court again

Florida attorney and game-regulation activist Jack Thompson has been involved in a number of public feuds stemming from his efforts against the likes of shock-jock Howard Stern, Grand Theft Auto (and Firmware 3.03 hack enabler, not by choice, of course) publisher Take-Two Interactive, and the lawyers who have represented them. Thompson has even sued the Florida Bar, of which he is a member.

Now the Florida Bar has rolled up all those feuds and more into a 40-page complaint filed with the state's Supreme Court. Self-explanatory game blog GamePolitics broke the story over the weekend, reporting that the Bar's complaint makes five allegations against Thompson for violations of professional conduct.

GameSpot obtained a full copy of the complaint, which accuses Thompson of a number of misdeeds, such as repeatedly disobeying a judge's orders and violating Alabama's rules of professional conduct. Specifically, the complaint says Thompson made out-of-court statements that could tamper with the court case, knowing that they would be picked up and widely reported.

Read the full article here...

Brendan Sinclair
February 5, 2007

Source: GameSpot

If you want it: the PSP cooling fan

The fine folks of Acid Mods have done it again: they've created yet another impressive modification for the PSP. But this one will make you spin your head a bit. It's a cooling fan. Yes, a cooling fan.

While it's true that the system may get a little bit warm when connected via wi-fi, the portable doesn't seem to suffer from overheating issues like its console cousins. However, if you need to play your PSP on a hot summer day, you may want to check this out. Regardless of its practicality, it's certainly an ingenious piece of work.

Andrew Yoon
February 5, 2007

Source: PSP Fanboy

3xAAA PSP Battery Pack Mod

Neubit over at AcidMods has yet another mod that packages 3 AAA batteries into a PSP Battery Pack. This does require butchering a battery pack but if you feel something like this would be convenient for you to carry around then you can check out the full tutorial via the link below.

3xAAA PSP Battery Pack Tutorial




Via PSPUpdates

PlayStation 2 outsells PlayStation 3 in Japan

For the week of Jan. 22 to Jan. 28 sales of the PlayStation 2 totaled 20,995 units while those of the PlayStation 3 were 19,996, said Media Create Co. Ltd. The research company receives data from around 3,000 stores across Japan and uses that to estimate nationwide sales.

Sales of the PlayStation 2 have been so good that Sony this week raised its full year shipment target for that console to 13 million units from 11 million units. A combination of the low price -- it costs ¥16,000 (US$133) versus either ¥49,980 or ¥59,980 for the PlayStation 3 -- and a strong catalog of software titles is continuing to attract customers to the console.

Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s competing Wii console, which launched shortly after the PlayStation 3, sold 83,754 units in the week. The surprise winner among the new-generation consoles was Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, which managed to achieve a sales increase of just over 300 units to 7,365 units in the week when overall sales of the PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 fell by just over 3,000 units to 111,115 units, according to the figures.

The biggest selling hardware of the week was Nintendo's DS Lite, which sold 194,526 units against 35,700 units for the rival PlayStation Portable.

In the software ranking "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," which launched in Japan on Jan. 25, topped the chart with estimated sales of 227,261 units. That's more than double the second ranked "Dragon Quest Monsters Joker" for the Nintendo DS.

Martyn Williams
February 2, 2007

Source: GamePro

Firmware 3.11 Coming Soon?

The Japanese Sony Playstation site has some news about compatibility issues between firmware 3.10 and the downloadable version of the PSX game R-Types. Web translations do little to describe what the problem is but one thing they do make clear is a plan to release a patched system update during the 2nd week of February. Other than that, there isn't any information regarding specific changes to be made in the update but the inclusion of some security fixes would be a good bet.

Via PlayStation Japan

Custom Firmware 3.10 OE-A Released! (PAL PSX Support)

Right on the heels of a 0-day 3.10 decrypter release, Dark_AleX gives us the newest version of his custom firmware, 3.10 Open Edition Revision A (OE-A). That means you get to enjoy the same 1.50 homebrew goodness and PSX emulation with the features and game compatibility of the official 3.10 firmware. Please note that this must be installed as a new installation, not an upgrade to previous versions. All installation instructions are included in the readme file. Some users are reporting that PAL games are now working properly with the PSX emulator. This could be a result of the expanded support for games in preparation for the European PS3 launch. So, what did Dark_AleX change? Well here's the changelog for your reading pleasure...

• Change from 3.03 firmware to 3.10
• 4th level of brightness (aka battery eater) can now be selected also without ac adaptor.
• Changes in hen core:
• Static user elf's can now be executed in the 3.10 kernel. (this includes snes user version between other programs)
• Tyranid's patch (added in 3.03 OE-C) consequences was not explained very well in the changelog of 3.03 OE-C:
• For programmers: it allows kernel modules to have user imports, making kernel programming in 3.03/3.10 less strict.
• For users: plugins and applications that worked in 2.71 SE, but not in OE, *may* now work in 3.03OE-C and 3.10 OE-A.

Note: The plugin to load 3.02 pops won't work anymore in 3.10 OE, due to some changes in pops modules structure (meaudio fused with popsman, idcanager/idmanager behaviour slightly changed). A new plugin for 3.10 could be written next week.

WARNING: Firmware modifications can potentially damage your PSP beyond repair. Use this at your own risk.

Download Custom Firmware 3.10 OE-A

Chotto Shot Night Vision Mod

Over at AcidMods "-Neubit-." has posted some teaser images and a YouTube video of a night vision mod they've developed for the Chotto Shot PSP digital camera. A tutorial of some sort should be on the way for this but, in the mean time, you can check out the video demo using the link below.

Chotto Shot Night Vision Mod Video

Via DCEmu & AcidMods

Sony puts its faith in PSP deals

"I have some confidence we can achieve this," he said.

Leo Lewis
January 31, 2007

Source: MarketWatch

Castlevania claims PSP stake

Konami is planning a Castlevania title for PSP - and they're not mucking about either, packing Symphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood onto the same disc as a full-blown 3D-graphics remake of the latter.

Going by the name Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, it's due out in the autumn.

"Rondo of Blood?" It's only ever been released properly in Japan, although you may have played a slightly less exciting port of it on the SNES called Dracula X. Don't worry though, they're not going to spoil it with 3D visuals, as the gameplay will still be ostensibly 2D.

What's more, an untouched port of the original code, along with one of the much celebrated PlayStation title Symphony of the Night, will also be stuffed onto the UMD when the game makes its first appearance later this year. There's no 3D remake planned of the latter, sadly.

Even so, it still sounds brilliant. Xbox 360 fans will want to remember that Symphony of the Night is also set to be released via Live Arcade in the near future.

Tom Bramwell
February 2, 2007

Source: EuroGamer

France to offer tax credits on video games

PARIS (Reuters) - France is to offer tax credits to encourage local companies to develop video games, the Ministry of Culture said on Thursday.

Parliament has approved a measure that will offer tax credits to producers of video games "with a cultural dimension" to finance 20 percent of a company's production costs to a maximum of 3 million euros ($3.91 million) a year, the ministry said in a statement.

It said the move, intended to keep video game production in France, had been decided in recognition of the growing cultural importance of video games, which it said were played regularly by 15 million people in France.

"It recognizes the cultural character of the video game, which involves several branches of artistic talent: writers, directors, graphic artists, musical and sound creators," it said.

The statement noted that the European Commission had begun a formal examination of the proposed measure which would be completed in a few weeks.

Source: Reuters